Judicial Watch » Environmental Justicehttps://www.judicialwatch.org
Because no one is above the law!Fri, 31 Jul 2015 23:31:46 +0000en-UShourly1Millions More For “Environmental Justice”https://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2012/10/millions-more-for-environmental-justice/
https://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2012/10/millions-more-for-environmental-justice/#commentsThu, 18 Oct 2012 14:52:32 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?p=14441It’s been a spectacular month so far for grant recipients of President Obama’s costly “environmental justice” program, which keeps doling out millions to help “underserved” and minority communities obtain the same protection from health and environmental hazards as their wealthy counterparts. So what if the national debt is a gargantuan $16 trillion and growing? In

]]>It’s been a spectacular month so far for grant recipients of President Obama’s costly “environmental justice” program, which keeps doling out millions to help “underserved” and minority communities obtain the same protection from health and environmental hazards as their wealthy counterparts.

So what if the national debt is a gargantuan $16 trillion and growing? In 2011, Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allocated upwards of $10 million for these minority causes and the cash flow remains strong this year. In the last few days alone the EPA announced that over $2 million will go to several justice programs that include “indoor air quality projects” for minority and low-income families, asthma-friendly homes and education and the development of “solutions to local health and environmental issues in communities overburdened by harmful pollution.”

Here’s how it works; the EPA gives money to leftwing groups—including some dedicated to helping illegal immigrants—that teach black, Latino and indigenous folks how to recycle, reduce carbon emissions through “weatherization” and participate in “green jobs” training. The agency even funded a $7 million study to determine how pollution, combined with stress and other social factors, affects people in “poor and underserved communities.”

The latest round of allocations will go to organizations that will “educate, empower and enable their communities to understand and address local environmental and public health issues,” according to an EPA announcement. Another chunk of cash will go to a nonprofit that will teach low-income public school students in California asthma self-management skills.

More than $1 million will go to organizations and local governments that will try to develop indoor air quality projects that protect the needy in classrooms, communities and homes. This includes “asthma-friendly homes” for poor minorities and special training to educate the primary adults in the life of an asthmatic child.

All this will help the administration meet its goal of bringing environmental justice to America. Here is an explanation via the EPA: “The principles of environmental justice uphold the idea that all communities overburdened by pollution – particularly minority, low income and indigenous communities – deserve the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards, equal access to the decision-making process and a healthy environment in which to live, learn and work. “

]]>https://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2012/10/millions-more-for-environmental-justice/feed/1DOJ Releases First Annual Environmental Progress Reporthttps://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2012/03/doj-releases-first-annual-environmental-progress-report/
https://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2012/03/doj-releases-first-annual-environmental-progress-report/#commentsFri, 02 Mar 2012 18:46:02 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?p=12866The Department of Justice (DOJ) has just released a highly-touted “progress report” outlining all the wonderful things the Obama Administration has done to help underserved populations obtain the same degree of protection from health and environmental hazards as their wealthy counterparts. This may seem like an odd task for the DOJ, the agency charged with

]]>The Department of Justice (DOJ) has just released a highly-touted “progress report” outlining all the wonderful things the Obama Administration has done to help underserved populations obtain the same degree of protection from health and environmental hazards as their wealthy counterparts.

This may seem like an odd task for the DOJ, the agency charged with defending the interests of the United States and ensuring public safety against foreign and domestic threats. There is a good explanation, however. The administration is associating the program—which so far has cost taxpayers millions of dollars—with justice, thus the name “environmental justice.”

The goal is to provide all Americans— regardless of race, ethnicity or income status—full protection under the nation’s environmental, civil rights and health laws, says Attorney General Eric Holder. To fulfill this “landmark commitment” full participation is essential across the federal government, according to the president’s environmental justice team.

That’s not to say that Uncle Sam isn’t doling out large sums of money to leftist community groups—including some dedicated to helping illegal immigrants—that are assisting with this crucial government environmental justice crusade. Last year the administration distributed north of $10 million in environmental justice grants and several million have already been allocated this year with more expected to come in the next few months.

In a statement announcing the report this week, the DOJ offers a brief explanation for operating this particular justice program; because it recognizes that low-income, minority, and Native American communities are often disproportionately burdened with pollution, resulting in disproportionate health problems, greater obstacles to economic growth, and a lower quality of life.

The report offers examples of the DOJ’s “achievements” in carrying out its “environmental justice strategy.” For instance, a special DOJ mediation and conciliation division helped a “predominantly African American community” in Illinois that was “disproportionately experiencing the burdens of pollution.” The agency also took action on behalf of an “association of Hispanic residents” in Texas who accused U.S. Customs and Border Protection of using dangerous herbicides without adequately notifying them in Spanish.

]]>https://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2012/03/doj-releases-first-annual-environmental-progress-report/feed/1Govt. Pays Dance Theater To Teach Poor Kids About Pollutionhttps://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2011/12/govt-pays-dance-theater-to-teach-poor-kids-about-pollution/
https://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2011/12/govt-pays-dance-theater-to-teach-poor-kids-about-pollution/#commentsFri, 23 Dec 2011 19:58:53 +0000https://www.judicialwatch.org/?p=11878In the latest federal cash giveaway to help “underserved” communities, a dance theater in Utah is getting thousands from the government to educate low-income youth about the evils of air pollution. The Repertory Dance Theater in Salt Lake City will use its $25,000 grant to help kids understand the impacts of air pollution on the

]]>In the latest federal cash giveaway to help “underserved” communities, a dance theater in Utah is getting thousands from the government to educate low-income youth about the evils of air pollution.

The Repertory Dance Theater in Salt Lake City will use its $25,000 grant to help kids understand the impacts of air pollution on the environment and their health. How, exactly? By conducting elementary-school arts programs with an environmental twist. They will include “innovative lectures, demonstrations and movement classes,” according to this month’s grant announcement.

This particular allocation is just a snippet of the Obama Administration’s multi-million-dollar “environmental justice” initiative, which aims to help low-income populations obtain the same degree of protection from health and environmental hazards as wealthy communities. Three similar grants were also awarded this month, two in Colorado and another in Utah.

So far the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has doled out north of $10 million to leftwing groups—including some dedicated to helping illegal immigrants—that teach black, Latino and indigenous folks how to recycle, reduce carbon emissions through “weatherization” and participate in “green jobs” training. The money will continue flowing in the coming year, according to EPA bulletins “seeking applicants for an additional $1 million in environmental justice small grants” to be awarded in 2012.

“Community-based action and participation in environmental decision-making are critical to building healthy and sustainable communities,” EPA senior environmental justice advisor Lisa Garcia said this month. “By supporting local environmental justice projects in under-served communities, we are expanding the conversation on environmentalism and advancing environmental justice in communities across the nation.”

Let’s take a look at some of the groups that have cashed Uncle Sam’s environmental justice checks in the last year; a New Jersey nonprofit used its government cash to “educate and train” migrant farm workers from Mexico and Guatemala about “pesticide exposure” risks. A migrant farm workers’ group in Missouri spent it on a program to “increase awareness about the dangers of sun and heat exposure” in migrant communities.

Other community groups have used their money to teach residents of public housing about recycling, senior citizens about reducing their “carbon footprint,” inner city residents about “climate-change readiness” and students at a middle school with a “disparate economic and racial/ethnic composition” how to “identify and mitigate air pollution and solid waste disposal issues.” Here’s a detailed list of recipients and their mission.

]]>https://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2011/12/govt-pays-dance-theater-to-teach-poor-kids-about-pollution/feed/0More Environmental Justice Grants In FY 2011, 2012https://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2011/12/more-environmental-justice-grants-in-fy-2011-2012/
https://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2011/12/more-environmental-justice-grants-in-fy-2011-2012/#commentsTue, 13 Dec 2011 17:43:32 +0000https://www.judicialwatch.org/?p=11638The Obama Administration continues pouring huge sums of taxpayer dollars into a program that seeks to help poor, minority and indigenous communities attain “environmental justice” with some of the cash going to groups that assist illegal immigrants. It’s all part of the president’s multi-billion-dollar initiative to bring “social equity” to long underserved populations throughout the

]]>The Obama Administration continues pouring huge sums of taxpayer dollars into a program that seeks to help poor, minority and indigenous communities attain “environmental justice” with some of the cash going to groups that assist illegal immigrants.

It’s all part of the president’s multi-billion-dollar initiative to bring “social equity” to long underserved populations throughout the U.S. Just a few months ago the administration proudly announced that three federal agencies (Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Department of Transportation (DOT) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had contributed to the cause by doling out more than $2.5 billion in “assistance” to help low-income communities with everything from affordable housing to transportation and environmental improvements.

The EPA leads the way with its costly crusade to help underserved populations obtain the same degree of protection from health and environmental hazards as their wealthy counterparts. Here’s how it works; the EPA gives money to leftwing groups—including some dedicated to helping illegal immigrants—that teach black, Latino and indigenous folks how to recycle, reduce carbon emissions through “weatherization” and participate in “green jobs” training.

In the last year the EPA has distributed north of $10 million for environmental justice causes and this month the agency announced that it will allocate an additional $1 million to the initiative with another $1 million to be awarded in 2012. Among the groups getting money is a New Jersey nonprofit that will “educate and train” migrant farm workers from Mexico and Guatemala about “pesticide exposure” risks.

In the past year the EPA grants have gone to similarly outrageous causes, like a $7 million study on how pollution, stress and social factors affect “poor and underserved communities” and $6.2 million to train low-income residents for “green jobs” in Atlanta. Environmental justice grants have also gone to a migrant farm workers’ group in Missouri that taught migrants about the dangers of sun and heat exposure and to help the poor “evaluate toys and find out about toy recalls.”

Other community groups have used Uncle Sam’s check to teach residents of public housing about recycling, senior citizens about reducing their “carbon footprint,” inner city residents about “climate-change readiness” and students at a middle school with a “disparate economic and racial/ethnic composition” how to “identify and mitigate air pollution and solid waste disposal issues.”

]]>https://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2011/12/more-environmental-justice-grants-in-fy-2011-2012/feed/0Another Half A Mil For “Environmental Justice”https://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2011/09/another-half-a-mil-for-%e2%80%9cenvironmental-justice%e2%80%9d-2/
https://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2011/09/another-half-a-mil-for-%e2%80%9cenvironmental-justice%e2%80%9d-2/#commentsTue, 06 Sep 2011 10:23:55 +0000https://www.judicialwatch.org/?p=717Though it has raked in upwards of $10 million in just a few months, a program that works to bring “environmental justice” to poor and minority communities keeps receiving a steady flow of taxpayer dollars even as the federal debt sits at historically high levels.It’s all part of the Obama Administration’s effort to help low-income

]]>Though it has raked in upwards of $10 million in just a few months, a program that works to bring “environmental justice” to poor and minority communities keeps receiving a steady flow of taxpayer dollars even as the federal debt sits at historically high levels.It’s all part of the Obama Administration’s effort to help low-income populations obtain the same degree of protection from health and environmental hazards as wealthy communities. In less than a year the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has doled out millions of dollars to leftwing groups— including some dedicated to helping illegal immigrants—that teach black, Latino and indigenous folks how to recycle, reduce carbon emissions through “weatherization” and participate in “green jobs” training.A few days ago the agency gave New Orleans-area groups $487,500 in “environmental justice, job training and education grants” to recruit and train candidates for “environmental jobs.” Candidates will learn how to “provide air quality sampling,” according to the EPA’s announcement. This shows the agency is committed to creating “green jobs and reaching out to low-income and minority communities that often bear the brunt of environmental degradation,” says the area’s regional administrator.The allocation comes just weeks after the EPA dropped $6.2 million to train low-income residents for “green jobs” in Atlanta. That chunk of taxpayer money went to “community groups” that promised to “recruit, train and place unemployed, predominately low-income residents in polluted areas.” The Obama Administration promises that the investment will “create good, green jobs that protect the health of local families and residents…”Shortly before that brilliant investment, the EPA financed a $7 million study to determine how pollution, combined with stress and other social factors, affects people in “poor and underserved communities.” The goal is to rid underserved communities of extensive pollution-based problems. EPA Chief Lisa Jackson launched the costly justice campaign because she claims poor and minority communities have little voice in environmental decisions while they suffer living in the shadow of the worst pollution.In Jackson’s short tenure the EPA, which was created 40 years ago to protect the environment and human health, has become a bastion of costly leftwing programs and a symbol of Obama’s big government crusade. The agency’s budget has surged 34% (to $10.3 billion) since Jackson took over and nearly half of it goes to grants that fund state environmental programs, nonprofits and educational institutions that help promote Jackson’s agenda.Earlier this year a House committee revealed that Jackson’s EPA has sent nearly $30 million to environmental causes overseas, including China, Russia and India. Among the “foreign handouts” were $1.2 million for the United Nations to promote clean fuels, $718,000 to help China comply with two initiatives and $700,000 for Thailand to recover methane gas at pig farms.

]]>https://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2011/09/another-half-a-mil-for-%e2%80%9cenvironmental-justice%e2%80%9d-2/feed/0DOD, DHS Among Agencies Dedicated To Environmental Justicehttps://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2011/08/dod-dhs-among-agencies-dedicated-to-environmental-justice/
https://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2011/08/dod-dhs-among-agencies-dedicated-to-environmental-justice/#commentsFri, 05 Aug 2011 15:22:01 +0000https://www.judicialwatch.org/?p=762Though it is unrelated to their mission, the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, Commerce and Housing are among the federal agencies that will focus on helping minorities get green under an Obama Administration plan that aims to bring “environmental justice” to poor and underserved communities nationwide.The effort was launched by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

]]>Though it is unrelated to their mission, the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, Commerce and Housing are among the federal agencies that will focus on helping minorities get green under an Obama Administration plan that aims to bring “environmental justice” to poor and underserved communities nationwide.The effort was launched by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last fall and the agency has doled out millions of dollars in “environmental justice grants” to dozens of leftwing groups, including some dedicated to helping illegal immigrants. Earlier this year the administration dedicated an additional $7 million to study how pollution, stress and social factors affect “poor and underserved communities.”The goal is to help low-income populations obtain the same degree of protection from health and environmental hazards as wealthy communities. The organizations that receive U.S. tax dollars reportedly teach black, Latino and indigenous folks how to recycle, reduce carbon emissions through “weatherization” and participate in “green jobs” training.As if it weren’t bad enough that millions of dollars have already gone to this initiative, the president is further wasting valuable taxpayer resources by forcing other federal agencies, most with unrelated duties, to participate. Besides the previously mentioned, the Department of Education, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Transportation, Justice, Health and Labor have all been forced to develop “environmental justice strategies to protect the health of people living in communities overburdened by population.”This week the agencies signed an official Memorandum of Understanding on Environmental Justice outlining some of their new duties. Under the agreement the agencies will make environmental justice part of their mission and they will provide the public with annual progress reports on their efforts. In a written statement, the Obama Administration proclaims that it’s the latest effort to address the inequities that may be present in some communities.Obama’s EPA administrator, Lisa Jackson, has promised to bring minorities environmental justice since getting appointed, saying that all too often they live in the shadows of our society’s worst pollution and, as a result, face disproportionate health impacts and greater obstacles to economic growth. She assures that every agency has a “unique and important role to play in ensuring that all communities receive the health and environmental protections they deserve.” The broad collaboration will translate into real progress for overburdened communities, according to Jackson.

]]>https://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2011/08/dod-dhs-among-agencies-dedicated-to-environmental-justice/feed/0Another $7 Mil For Environmental Justicehttps://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2011/01/another-7-mil-for-environmental-justice/
https://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2011/01/another-7-mil-for-environmental-justice/#commentsThu, 13 Jan 2011 16:30:46 +0000https://www.judicialwatch.org/?p=1161A few months after launching a multi million-dollar campaign to help minorities get green, the Obama Administration is dedicating an additional $7 million to study how pollution, stress and social factors affect “poor and underserved communities.”It’s all part of the administration’s effort to bring environmental justice to low-income populations by helping them obtain the same degree of

]]>A few months after launching a multi million-dollar campaign to help minorities get green, the Obama Administration is dedicating an additional $7 million to study how pollution, stress and social factors affect “poor and underserved communities.”It’s all part of the administration’s effort to bring environmental justice to low-income populations by helping them obtain the same degree of protection from health and environmental hazards as wealthy communities. Here’s how it works; the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gives money to leftwing groups—including some dedicated to helping illegal immigrants—that teach black, Latino and indigenous folks how to recycle, reduce carbon emissions through “weatherization” and participate in “green jobs” training.To carry out that phase of the environmental justice crusade, some 80 community organizations have received about $2 million. Among the recipients is a New Jersey group (Lazos America Unida) that advocates on behalf of the “Mexican immigrant community” and a Missouri farm workers’ group that will use the money to increase awareness about the dangers of sun and heat exposure in migrant populations.As if that weren’t bad enough, this week the EPA announced that it’s giving scientists at several universities $7 million to study how pollution, combined with stress and other social factors, affects people in “poor and underserved communities.” The agency refers to it as cumulative human health risk assessment research and the goal is to rid underserved communities of extensive pollution-based problems.“This ground-breaking research will focus on environments where people are exposed to multiple stressors such as chemicals, anxiety, and poor nutrition,” according to the EPA announcement. “When these stressors are combined, they can lead to a much higher risk of health issues.” The agency is committed to addressing these sorts of contributors to “disproportionate environmental health impacts,” according to a top official.EPA Chief Lisa Jackson launched her agency’s costly justice campaign because she claims poor and minority communities have little voice in environmental decisions while they suffer living in the shadow of the worst pollution.